New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said efforts to control the damage in terms of withdrawal of nominations by rebels have been successful to a large extent in Rajasthan and all focus would now be on the campaign. Polling for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will be held on November 25. Results will be out on Dec 3.
The Congress is contesting 199 seats while it has left one seat in Bharatpur for ally Rashtriya Lok Dal. According to party insiders, the concern for the party managers was the over two dozen rebels, who had filed nominations against the official Congress candidate, and could have cut the grand old party’s votes.
To mitigate the challenge, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had deployed veteran Mukul Wasnik as a special AICC observer a few days ago to convince and ensure that the rebels pull out of the race by November 9, the last day for withdrawal of nomination. A similar effort was also made by the AICC general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasara.
“Such cases where rebels spring up are usual in a key election. All the withdrawals that have to happen will take place today. Information is still trickling in, but the efforts have been by and large successful. In cases where the withdrawals have not happened, we have to rework strategy,” AICC secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Qazi Nizamuddin told ETV Bharat.
Also read: All is well in Rajasthan Cong as tricky ticket distribution is over, says Randhawa
“This is a very important election for us. I am very happy about the ticket distribution and we are going to form a government again. All focus would now be on the campaigning,” he said. Party insiders said that veteran Mukul Wasnik had to be deployed to convince the rebels as he is an old organisation hand and knows most of the state leaders personally. Incidentally, Wasnik also represents Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha.
Among the rebels that had bothered the high command were Rajkaran Chaudhary in Sardarpura, Brahmdev Kumawat in Masuda, Pradesh Jatav in Hindaun City, Jawhri Lal Meena in Rajgarh Laxmangarh, Kumbh Singh Palawan in Phalodi, Pannalal Dodiyar in Sagwara, Sunil Parihar in Siwana, Rameshwar Dadhich in Sursagar, among others.
“Wasnik met a lot of party leaders, who were miffed over not getting a nomination in Jaipur over the past few days, but let us know what happens,” a senior AICC functionary said. As per reports, Kumbh Singh reportedly withdrew in Phalodi in favour of party nominee Prakash Chhangani and so did Rameshwar Dadhich in Sursagar in favour of party nominee Shahzad.
According to party insiders, those who have obeyed the high command may be compensated later on when the party comes to power, while the ones who defied the directive could face disciplinary action. “For the party, not every aspirant can be given a ticket and any decision is bound to create unhappiness in some quarters. Sometimes, the rebels are deployed to cut the votes of the rival party candidate and at times they contest because it is a matter of prestige in their local community. We have to deal with all this in election time,” a senior AICC functionary said.
